1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a character printing method and device for printing groups of characters, such as letters, numerals, symbols, and simple figures (hereinafter generically referred to as “characters”) as well as an image forming method and device for converting text data of character strings each having at least one character to image data thereof based on a predetermined font, and properly arranging the image data within a predetermined memory area to thereby form data representative of an image of the character strings.
2. Prior Art
In general, in a character printing device for printing character groups each including one or more characters, it is checked before printing by using a display device thereof or the like, how many printing areas of a predetermined size are required (for instance, how many pages are required, assuming that one printing area of the predetermined size is equivalent to one page) for printing the character groups (groups of character images corresponding to respective character codes) desired to be printed. Thereafter, printing operation is carried out. Otherwise, if there is not sufficient time before printing, for instance, the check is carried out after printing.
However, there has not been proposed a character printing device, which, when the size of a printable area is fixed due to a predetermined limit set to the number of characters, the number of lines or the number of pages, for printing, directly designates such a limit and extracts part of character groups for printing such that the extracted part is adapted to the printable area of the limited size. Still less proposed is a character printing device which notifies the user of the existence of an unprinted portion of the character groups.
For instance, in a word processor or the like, the number of pages is eventually designated by designating a print starting page and a print ending page. However, the limit of the number of pages is not directly designated, and hence there is no means to tell whether or not the user intended to print all the desired character groups in pages up to the print ending page. Therefore, if all the character groups cannot be printed within the limited number of pages, it is impossible to print a message notifying the user of the fact. To print such a message, the user himself is required to carry out the check via the display screen and enter characters notifying the fact. The same applies to a tape printing apparatus or the like, which does not print on a predetermined size of a printing area, but requires the user to set a size thereof e.g. by setting a fixed length.
Further, in general, in order to display or print an image of a character string including one or more characters, font data corresponding to text (code) data of each character of the character string is read out from the ROM or the like storing known font data, or dot matrix data registered by nonstandard character registration or image registration is read out from the RAM or the like (hereinafter the known font or the registered dot matrix is simply referred to as “the predetermined font”), and based on the predetermined font data, a character image is formed and arranged in a predetermined image-forming area, whereby display image data or print image data representative of the image of the character string is produced.
In a word processor or the like, an edit screen adjusted to a set or determined size of one page is displayed, and registered text data is read into the range of the edit screen, or new characters are input thereto via the keyboard to permit editing of the text data or the characters input thereto. That is, an image of characters (character image) corresponding to the text data of character strings is formed as dot matrix data and arranged in a display image-forming area of a predetermined size, to display a display image thus formed. Further, after the edit process is terminated, by carrying out a key entry to instruct printing operation, a print image which is the same image as displayed on the screen is printed. That is, a character image corresponding to the text data of the character strings is formed as dot matrix data arranged in a print image area of the predetermined size, and the thus formed print image is printed.
In the above cases, for instance, when arbitrary new line-starting codes, which can be inserted into the text (code) data of character strings as desired, are contained, lines of the character strings are determined or defined by these arbitrary new line-starting codes. However, when the length (number of characters or the like) of a character string on a line up to the arbitrary new line-starting code, is larger than the length (horizontal size in horizontal writing, for instance) of each line set as a horizontal size of the image-forming area for the character strings, automatic start of a new line is carried out at the position of a character corresponding to the end of the predetermined horizontal size of the image-forming area. Of course, if there is not included an arbitrary new line-starting code in the text data, the automatic start of a new line is carried out on each line at a character position corresponding to the end of the set horizontal size of the image-forming area.
The same applies to lines. For instance, when arbitrary page break codes, which can be inserted into the text (code) data of character strings as desired, are contained, the number of lines (line count) in each page is determined or defined according to the arbitrary page break codes. However, when the number of lines up to the arbitrary page break code is larger than the number of lines set as the size of the image-forming area for the character strings, automatic page break is carried out at the position of a line count corresponding to the end of the predetermined vertical size of the image-forming area. Needless to say, if there is not included an arbitrary page break code in the text data, the automatic page break is carried out for all of the text data at the position of each line count corresponding to the lower end of the set vertical size of the image-forming area.
However, there has not been proposed a device for forming an image which can meet needs for displaying or printing the summary of contents representative of all the character strings, within one predetermined line, a predetermined number of lines, or a predetermined number of pages, even by omitting part of the contents. In other words, there has not been proposed a device, for instance, which is capable of arranging within each line not only a line number or an information number but also at least an essential portion (e.g. a predetermined number of characters from the head) of a character string or character strings corresponding to the line number or the information number, and arranging such lines for display or printing. Furthermore, there has not been proposed a device which is capable of arranging at least an essential portion (e.g. a plurality of lines from the head of character strings) within a predetermined number of lines or pages, and displaying or printing an image representative of all the contents of the character strings within the predetermined number of lines or pages.
Further, assuming that once data of an image of partially omitted character strings (elided image) described above is formed, and the data is used for display or printing, it is difficult to check the source character strings when they are required to be partially changed. More specifically, if characters or lines as part of the whole character strings are omitted, the range of characters to be received within a line having a predetermined length or the range of lines to be received within a predetermined number of lines or a predetermined number of pages is changed, and hence a position from which the following characters or lines are omitted is required to be also changed. From the display or print of only the elided image, it is impossible to grasp omitted characters which should be restored, and hence correction of the data of the display image or the print image is difficult to carry out.
On the other hand, when not the data of the elided image but data of an image of the whole character strings (whole image) is formed, the automatic start of a new line and the automatic page break is carried out according to the horizontal size of one page (e.g. predetermined number or count of characters on a line) or the vertical size of the same (e.g. predetermined number or count of lines) as described above, it is difficult to think of the original image of the source character strings. Further, it is difficult to imagine each line or page of an elided image to be formed subsequently.